Americans: Get Out And Vote November 3rd!

This would be funny except that it's actually happened before, back in 2000:
Republicans Urge Minorities To Get Out And Vote On Nov. 3

More than you ever cared to know about caffeine...

Sodas that have caffeine in the USA (I'm usre there are actually more):
- Coke
- Pepsi
- Barq's Root Beer
- Red Bull
- Dr Pepper
- Mountain Dew

Pops that have caffeine in Canada:
- Coke
- Pepsi
- Dr Pepper
- Barq's Root Beer

In Canada, caffeine can only be added to soft drinks that look like Coke, i.e. that have the dark colouring of cola, so US Red Bull and Mountain Dew are illegal here. Also our law doesn't allow caffeinated water and orange juice, which are allowed in the USA.

Bits of trivia: Diet Coke has more caffeine than regular Coke. Also, only Barq's has caffeine, not Mug or A&W root beers (hence: "Barq's has Bite!").

oh god not another jesus election, as the maritimers might say

November 2nd, just six days away, is the US Presidential Election. I'm a big political junkie, so I'm having a party! You're all invited to either cheer as science and reason return to the White House, or mourn as a non-thinking* non-reading* non-consulting* not-as-smart-as-he-thinks* Texan returns to it for another (scary) four years. Bush supporters are welcome, but must be prepared to be tarred and feathered.

leapfish has suggested red, white, and blue cupcakes. Any challengers to his snack dominance? I also encourage goofy election signs. BYOB, and we have sleepover space if anybody gets depressed by Bush and needs to drink themselves into a stupor.

Any time after 7 pm, November 2, our place. RSVP for directions if you need them.

Fun website: www.electoral-vote.com (updated daily)

* I have references for all these facts.

Go on a low-carbon diet...

Care about the environment? Then buy less fruits that travelled thousands of kilometres to get to your table! Think about the truck exhaust when you buy pineapples and bananas and macadamia nuts and coffee and the list goes on and on. Obviously just stopping won't happen, but just consider reducing. Locally-produced food and drink means less travel and less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

So sayeth

David Suzuki

I know that leapfish won't like this idea, but they suggest locally produced wines as one way to alter consumption...

Emergency

I'm teaching at the Toyota plant near KW tonight, kinda neat. Tonight, there was a medical emergency. Fast response from fire truck, EMS, and police, which is good. But there was something funny. After the main trucks went by, I was walking back to my classroom (I was in the cafeteria prior) and I heard another siren: loud, and getting closer. I didn't see anything though. Finally around the corner comes this golf cart, obviously going as fast as it can (about 30 km/h), with two very serious-looking people on it. It was just too funny.

Toyota had other internal emergency vehicles that had driven by, you see. This was only funny because it was so obviously unnecessary. At least, at first glance. I'm sure it exists for a reason -- this place isn't built on inefficient ideas, that's for sure.

Time catches up to everyone

While I would never suggest that it is a one-sided situation, Yasser Arafat has caused a lot of problems with the pursuit of peace in the Middle East over the years. Perhaps a peaceful torch-passing would be a good thing?

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2004/10/27/arafat041027.html

Encouraging Political Action

The people in the world with the most energy, the most passion, and the most of their lives ahead of them are sadly the least likely to vote. Eminem is trying to change that, and that pleases me. (A writeup about it, in case you find the info more interesting than the song. Or alternately, the lyrics so you can read for yourself.)


It's number one on MTV right now.

Two Points

1. The internet is soooooo slow. It took sixty-two minutes for the new episode of The West Wing which I missed to appear on a bittorrent.

2. I have too much time on my hands, judging by the number of posts today.